A discussion about issues, appellate decisions, and other news of interest to Kansas defenders. This site does NOT necessarily reflect the opinion or position of the Appellate Defender Office or of the Kansas Board of Indigent Defense Services. Nor does this in any way constitute legal advice or is it even warranted to be remotely accurate! It is intended to be a resource for Kansas defenders and others interested in the criminal justice system in Kansas.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Know a lot of 124 year olds?

I just thought this Wichita Eagle article was sort of funny. In it Judge Pilshaw claims that "This is the first time I've sent someone to prison knowing they were going to die there." What's funny is that I know that she sentenced one of my old clients, Eugene Kemp, about 20 years old at the time of sentencing, to a presumptive 1240 month prison sentence. Did she really think Mr. Kemp was likely to survive that? (We got several of Mr. Kemp's convictions reversed on appeal, (here) so his total sentence was evetually reduced to about 15 years). And I can't believe Judge Pilshaw hasn't imposed consecutive life sentences in some other cases. It just seems a little melodramatic to me. At least she cut the guy some slack on the duration.